The New York Jets have painted themselves into a corner as their talks with free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick go absolutely nowhere. So they are taking a different approach and looking at Josh McCown from the Cleveland Browns.
Realistically the Jets only have around $2 million in cap space so offering Fitzpatrick some high priced deal just is not going to happen. The Jets are not looking to pay a lot for a quarterback especially one who has issues being consistent.
Fitzpatrick is 33 years old and has played for six teams in his 12 season NFL career. He was drafted by the Rams in 2005 in the 7TH round. He was traded from the Rams to the Cincinnati Bengals for a conditional draft pick in 2007 and came in as the third string backup quarterback.
After being released the Buffalo Bills took a chance on Fitzpatrick and all that came out of that were mixed results. He would later have one season stints with the Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans both of which showed promise especially when you consider the fact that he spent two seasons with two different teams.
The Houston Texans would finally trade Fitzpatrick to the Jets for a conditional seventh round pick which quickly turned into a sixth round pick thanks to all the playing time he saw. Now the Jets need to figure out if he is indeed worth the money.
It makes sense for the Jets to be hesitant offering a seventh round pick a multi-year deal however Fitzpatrick has proven himself in this offense. With the Jets Fitzpatrick has recorded 335 out of 562 passing attempts, has a 59.6 completion rating, threw for 3,905 yards, averaged 6.9 yards a pass, had a quarterback rating of 88.0, and had a touchdown to interception ratio of 31-15.
Fitzpatrick has had the best season of his career with the Jets and the franchise believes this is because of their system not necessarily Fitzpatrick. The quarterback also had an added weapon in Brandon Marshall so really it is unknown if Fitzpatrick will continue to play like this.
With only $2 million in cap space the Jets have to be frugal with their money however winning for that franchise has been a rarity and the Jets had one of the best seasons in recent memory. Fitzpatrick will get re-signed but probably not before Josh McCown is wearing green.
